ABSTRACT
Most simply, phenomenology is the description and interpretation of human experience. A central focus is the lifeworld—the typical, taken-for-granted context of everyday experience of which, most of the time, we are unaware. Phenomenologists argue that an integral structure of the lifeworld is the lived body, which, through unique modes of encounter and interaction with the world at hand, contributes to the generative structure of each person’s experiences and lifeways. In this chapter, I review the notion of lifeworld and highlight the significance of the lived body in human experience. I suggest that lived bodies are in an intimate relationship with the worlds in which they find themselves. This situation is described in terms of environmental embodiment. In turn, environmental embodiment points to the crucial significance of places in human life. I examine the dynamic relations between lived body and place by highlighting how each interanimates the other.
